this post was submitted on 16 Mar 2026
242 points (97.6% liked)

RetroGaming

28789 readers
132 users here now

Vintage gaming community.

Rules:

  1. Be kind.
  2. No spam, AI slop, or soliciting for money.
  3. No racism or other bigotry allowed.
  4. Obviously nothing illegal.

If you see these please report them.

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Or do we need another decade before we can call IPod games retro?

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] DigDoug@lemmy.world 77 points 2 months ago (6 children)

I think 25 years is plenty long enough.

The Atari 2600 was newer when the first iPod was released than the first iPod is now.

[–] abbadon420@sh.itjust.works 37 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Are deliberatly trying to make hurt me?

[–] DigDoug@lemmy.world 23 points 2 months ago

I was originally going to compare it to the NES, and then I realised that I needed to go back a lot further....

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Being a Millennial and older now is like what being a 500 year old immortal would have been back when it took that long to see meaningful technological change.

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Exactly.

Imagine a 13 year old kid now-gtav is the same age as them and they're still playing it.

Thats the crazy thing. Advancment peaked.

Imagine playing a 13 year old game in the ps1 era. WAY different.

[–] Redkey@programming.dev 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I remember the first time I really sat down and played (and finished) the original Legend of Zelda was in the late 90s, well into the PS1 era and 11-13 years after the game was released. Although admittedly, I was a bit older than 13.

Good games are always good games. Once someone is mature enough to see past the historical limitations, they don't seem to matter nearly as much. Last year I saw some tweens commenting about how PS3 games are "unplayable" now, and I laughed. Yeah, that's why no-one plays chess or poker any more. "You mean you have to use your hands? That's like a baby's game!"

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 months ago

Omg. I used that exact bttf quote a few weeks ago for something similar!!

Graphics have never mattered to me. They're a party trick.

[–] orbitz@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 months ago

I had a similar thought, I sold those things so many years ago, it is retro. It was before the gameboy advanced (okay only by like 8 months if I saw the correct dates). I actually thought they came out further apart and advanced was later but apparently March and November dates. 2001 was a good year, Xbox year too.

[–] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 37 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Like 15 years ago my wife had one of these and she was a teacher f0r 12-13 yo and one of them asked "what is that" and other answer "an iphone, the really old ones, was not even a phone yet". That interaction still haunts my wife.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 18 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I mean.....the student was technically wrong, buuuuuut, realistically, was he?

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The first iPhone didn't have access to an app store, it was basically an iPod and a feature phone that got Tuvixed.

[–] hitmyspot@aussie.zone 2 points 2 months ago

Yes but with a decent web browser.

The app store came soon after and is what really kicked things off. It was popular as a phone before the app store. It was a phenomenon once there was an app store. Queues overnight on the street.to buy one.

[–] fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

An iPhone without the phone??? When will Apple stop innovating!

[–] Nilz@sopuli.xyz 8 points 2 months ago

Here at Apple we believe the iPhone doesn't need the functionality to make calls anymore. Introducing the all new i .

[–] PonyOfWar@pawb.social 17 points 2 months ago

That's GBA/PS2 era, definitely retro.

[–] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

The black & white iPods are antiques at this point.

[–] homes@piefed.world 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.world 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I had an eighty GB iPod gen 5 and that was the shit.

I could watch the Simpsons on it and plug it into any TV with RCA cables that plugged into the headphone jack.

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.world -3 points 2 months ago

Bro I can’t fucking read foreign language what do you think I am some type of genius?

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It’s kinda sad how many current day mobile games are barely more advanced than this.

[–] HouseWolf@pawb.social 6 points 2 months ago (2 children)

It's interesting to look at mobile games nowadays realizing that smartphones have been more powerful than 7th gen consoles for more than a decade now.

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 2 months ago

Exactly, and all that power is used for candy crush 💀

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 months ago

Just the other day I decided to try hooking a ps4 controller up via Bluetooth to my phone to play dreamcast on it. Worked flawlessly.

I was pretty amazed. I'll never do it again, but cool nonetheless.

[–] nymnympseudonym@piefed.social 5 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Parachute was dope

Big Game & Watch energy

[–] Whostosay@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 months ago

Played the fuck outta that

[–] BowtiesAreCool@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Reminds me of the couple games I had on an old Nokia. The bowling and parachute were surprisingly addictive and fun

[–] brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Ha. I was playing with my old one just yesterday. It's the model with the touch sensitive wheel and 4 touch buttons.

The battery doesn't even last 1 song anymore.

Then I have a newer one that I installed rockbox on. That's kind of neat.

[–] Lighttrails@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 months ago (2 children)

My mother in law found this one and was going to donate it when I snatched it away. I didn’t have any 30 pin adapters but luckily a friend of mine is a cable hoarder and gave me three brand new ones. I’ve got iPod classic as well with a burned out hard drive that I plan on installing an SD drive and rockbox on.

[–] djdarren@piefed.social 2 points 2 months ago

I modded my 4th gen, and replaced the battery while I was in there. The trouble with mine is that it won't charge with USB, so I had to spend out on a FireWire charger. Also, the HDD in 4G is IDE, where the 5G+ are SATA, so if you do decide to mod a newer one you'll need a new adapter.

It is pretty though. And very easy to mod.

[–] toynbee@piefed.social 2 points 2 months ago

"Cable hoarder"? You mean "reasonable person," right? Maybe "good decision maker"?

[–] BenchpressMuyDebil@szmer.info 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You can install Rockbox on those things yeah?

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

God, I read that 3 times as Roblox....

[–] Scubus@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 months ago

I didn't realize it wasn't until your comment

[–] one_old_coder@piefed.social 2 points 2 months ago

You can add the video iPod that I used to watch movies in the subway. You could even find movies on TPB with the good resolution. Fun times.

[–] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

iPops are still new young people things.

For retro gaming on a portable music player, you need to play "If you hold down play and fast-forward it makes your music go squeaky" on a cassette Walkman.

[–] jambudz@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 months ago

2001-2010 were the heyday of the iPods with the wheel, i.e. 16-25 years ago. That’s almost an adult right there.

[–] NihilsineNefas@slrpnk.net 1 points 2 months ago

A mild hydrogen peroxide mix can help get rid of the yellowing, but it's best to use it with the front case removed (if you wanted to make that thing GLEAM)

[–] sic_semper_tyrannis@lemmy.today 1 points 2 months ago

Oh yeah Parachute!

[–] Rubanski@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Korg Monologue! What a fun synthesizer

[–] sploosh@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I think that's a Minilogue. 4 voice poly instead of mono. Not bad, but a little generic sounding and very few modulation options.

[–] Lighttrails@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It is indeed a monologue. It’s my first synth as a guitar player. Just something to play around with

[–] sploosh@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

So it is! I thought the mono only came in black, but that was a silly assumption when talking about Korg, kings of the multicolored minikey synth.